Mutual manual stimulation of partners is mutual masturbation which may substitute actual sexual intercourse.
Most people get to discover about their pleasure zones and their effects upon certain stimulations through masturbation. There is no scientific evidence of relationship between masturbation and any form of physical or mental disorder.
Studies indicate that both sexes masturbate.
Masturbation, even though many don’t admit to it, takes a substitute of sexual intercourse to many people who are sexually active. It is said to assist in staying faithful rather than finding someone else to engage in sex with rather than your partner.
Female Masturbation
Thus involves a woman rubbing or stroking her vulva, her clitoris, with her index finger, middle finger or both. Sometimes a finger or two may be inserted inside the vagina to repeatedly stroke the frontal wall where the G-spot is located. Masturbation aids, normally sex toys like dildo, vibrator or ben-wa-balls can be used to stimulate the vaginal walls or the clitoris.
Some women can also masturbate by closing their legs tightly and clenching the muscles between their legs, and sometimes the pelvic muscles too, thus creating sufficient pressure in their genitals. Thoughts and fantasies are involved in this form of masturbation. Some women can even attain an orgasm by spontaneous will to do so.
Sex therapists will sometimes recommend that female patients take time to masturbate to orgasm, for example to help improve sexual health and relationships, to help determine what is erotically pleasing to them, and because mutual masturbation can lead to more satisfying sexual relationships and added intimacy.
Male masturbation
This involves stroking the penis shaft up and down with a fist, faster during the initial phase and slower towards ejaculation. Male masturbation may also involve stimulation of other erogenous zones e.g. nipples, testicles, thighs, pelvic area, chest etc. Men may also stimulate the rim of the glans, the glans, the lower side of the penis etc and some form of lubricant may be used. Some men also use some sex toys e.g. artificial vaginas, vibrators etc to masturbate. Some men also pump inside a stationary hand to simulate real intercourse. Some men also enjoy prostate stimulation, caressing the area between the testicles and the anus, and some even insert a lubricated finger in the anus to stimulate the prostate further.
Some advanced forms of masturbation e.g. edging is also practiced where by a man masturbates for a long period of time, maintaining a high arousal state at the blink of ejaculation but stops right before ejaculation. Some tantric forms of masturbation is achieved via training the pelvic floor muscles where by right before ejaculation, the man squeezes the pelvic muscles hard enough to stop ejaculation and to reverse the entire ejaculation altogether. This however, may redirect the semen into the bladder, called retrograde ejaculation.
Sex therapists sometimes recommend that the male patient to take time to masturbate in order to identify any sexual problem and its cause e.g. psychological induced erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation.
Effects of masturbation
When overdone, it has effects that might take toll in intimacy and sexual relationships.
- It can breed unwanted familiarity to sexual organs where the body adapts to self stimulation thus making it difficult or impossible to achieve an orgasm with a partner.
- Could result in injury since masturbation is not an actual sexual intercourse, especially when using devices to masturbate.
- May result in psychological effects e.g. guilt, shame, feeling cheap, sense of lack of self-control, low self confidence in sex, etc
- Lack of sexual drive. Every time you masturbate, you lose some vital sexual energy that can be preserved for a partner. Too much masturbation spends your energy such that when you encounter a real sexual being, your penis/vagina may be weak.
However, there is no medical evidence that masturbation done around 2 times per week is harmful to the body or the mind; in fact, it is thought as healthy for maintaining sexual organs where sex is not possible.
